World News
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India: Suspected rape of Dalit girl puts spotlight on caste violence
The alleged rape, murder and forced cremation of a 9-year-old girl in the Indian capital recently has once again put the spotlight on the gruesome sexual crimes against women in the country, as well the treatment of those on the lowest rung of the nation’s rigid caste system, from which the girl hailed. According to authorities, the girl told her…
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COVID: Why Indonesia is unable to rein in the pandemic
Medical facilities on Indonesia’s largest and most populated island, Java, are starting to absorb the blow of surging COVID cases over the past month, with more medical oxygen and hospital beds being made available. However, hospitals elsewhere in Indonesia are reporting low oxygen supplies as cases increase. Java, home to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, has much better health care facilities compared…
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Madagascar’s worst drought in decades
It has not rained in Madagascar for months and parasites have affected staple crops, leading to rising food prices and leaving families with nothing to eat. In its latest Hunger Hotspots report for 2021, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) says acute food insecurity in southern Madagascar “is expected to push 14,000 people into catastrophic acute food insecurity by…
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Julian Assange: US still pushing for extradition
Assange has not been a free man for 11 years: that is 4,000 days and nights. He celebrated his last three birthdays in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, which is often referred to as the “British Guantanamo” for its tough conditions. All applications for bail or a release into house arrest have been denied. So, the Australian journalist and activist remains incarcerated as he awaits the decision on whether or not the…
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China bans illegal content in karaoke songs, criteria proves troublesome for venue owners
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that it is planning to ban karaoke songs that have “illegal content”. The illegal content criteria include songs that “endanger national unity”, sovereignty or territorial integrity. People/companies that provide content to karaoke venues are urged to check the songs they are offering and report to the ministry any songs that are possibly harmful.…
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AfricaLink on Air – 10 August 2021
Zambia ahead of the election on Thursday August 12th +++ Nigeria’s ruling party as well the opposition pass a vote of no confidence on their interim chairmen +++ Ugandans oppose mandatory car tracking +++ Cameroon’s Bee Delivery taxi firm thrives amid pandemic gloom SOURCE: DW News
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Taliban on the rise in Afghanistan after US pullout
After the withdrawal of NATO troops, the Taliban are recapturing more and more territory in Afghanistan. Especially the former local forces of the NATO troops fear for their lives and try to flee the country. SOURCE: DW News
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Fires to floods: Extreme weather is occurring worldwide
In many parts of Greece on Monday, the fierce winds weakened, so the fires were not fanned further. The breather for emergency workers is likely to be short-lived, however, as another heat wave with temperatures of over 40 degrees is on its way — with the potential to worsen the situation. Forest fires have been raging in Greece for weeks,…
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Why North Korea is wary of foreign warships in the region
The United States and South Korea are holding joint military exercises from Tuesday and the most powerful warship in Britain’s Royal Navy is preparing to dock in the South Korean port of Busan before the end of August, moves that prompted Pyongyang to ramp up the rhetoric against what the regime insists is a threat to peace in the region.…
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Popular Malaysian singer/new mother dies from Covid
Yesterday, the popular Malaysian singer, Siti Sarah Raisuddin, died from Covid. Just days prior, the singer had given birth to her 4th child, Ayash Affan. Siti Sarah had previously experienced low oxygen levels and had to be put in a medically induced coma to help deliver her baby. The baby was delivered safely, however, the mother never got to hold…
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Sewage into drinkable water, Singapore gets creative at finding water resources
Singapore has created a system for turning sewage into water clean enough for people to drink. The system also reduces pollution in the ocean. The island’s somewhat scarce natural water resources have forced it to rely on Malaysia for water for some time. Thus, the government decided to be more self-sufficient and develop this system which uses a network of…
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US tells citizens to avoid travel to Thailand, upgrades country to highest warning level
While officials rush to restore Phuket’s reputation following the murder of a Swiss tourist, the eyes of the US government are on how Thailand is managing the pandemic (or not). According to a Bangkok Post report, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is warning citizens against travel to Thailand as Covid-19 infections and deaths continue to rise. The…
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Crime Fighters: Out of the Shadows, Into the Light
In the city of Swangoly, somewhere in Africa, Jeremy faces persecution, violence and discrimination because of his sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the MP Celia was shot in a homophobic attack. With the perpetrators still at large, 19-year-old Jeremy feels unsafe and threatened. Even his own family struggles to provide him with understanding and support. This Crime Fighters audio drama exposes the…
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Out of the Shadows, Into the Light – Ep 04: Sana’s Secret
Things in the Lantaro family just keep going from bad to worse. Jeremy is determined to leave home to escape his family’s hostility, which started after he came out. Will his twin sister, Julie, manage to talk him round? SOURCE: DW News
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India: New temple-mosque conflict brewing in Varanasi
It’s the afternoon call to prayer at the Gyanvapi mosque in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The handful of men there, kneeling, are dwarfed by the massive 17th century structure, their soft words nearly drowned out by the steady hum of the low ceiling fans. It’s a moment of peace and reflection, before the men step back out…
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How nationalism is driving Chinese trolls to target athletes
“I am sorry to you all,” said Liu Shiwen, a Chinese table tennis player who, along with her teammate, lost to the Japanese team in the sport’s mixed doubles’ competition at the Tokyo Olympics. She issued this tearful apology after losing the game, adding: “I feel like I have failed the team.” Liu is not the only Chinese athlete who…
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Belarus protests one year on: Lukashenko in command and striking back
Every year-end review published last December featured prominent images of the largest mass protests in Belarus since the republic gained independence. Led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kolesnikova und Veronika Zepkalo, citizens had been protesting the results of the country’s August 9, 2020, presidential election in which incumbent strongman Alexander Lukashenko was declared the overwhelming winner. But the European Union (EU),…
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Belarus athletes watch Olympics from afar
Andrei Krauchanka was a hero in his home country of Belarus. In a way, he still is. A decathlete, he won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but years later found himself in direct conflict with the country’s government. He was one of 400 athletes who signed an open letter that will not have amused President Alexander Lukashenko.…
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Assassination plot of Burmese UN Ambassador thwarted
Kyaw Moe Tun has been standing in a precarious position as the current or former Burmese ambassador to the United Nations – depending on who you believe – and is now the subject of a thwarted assassination plot. The plan to murder or maim the diplomat was to be carried out by 2 Burmese nationals on US soil at the…
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‘Chinese Taipei’: Taiwan’s Olympic success draws attention to team name
As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics comes to an end this week, Taiwan’s record-breaking number of medals has put a spotlight on the name of its delegation at international competitions like the Olympics. Over the past three weeks, athletes from Taiwan have won a total of 12 medals at the Tokyo Olympics, including a first gold medal in badminton. After defeating…
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Ukraine investigating Belarusian activist’s death as possible murder
Suicide, or premeditated murder disguised as suicide? Those are the main hypotheses authorities in Kyiv are currently investigating in the death of Vitaliy Shishov according to National Police of Ukraine boss Ihor Klymenko. Shishov, a 26-year-old Belarusian activist who co-founded the Kyiv-based Belarusian House in Ukraine (BHU), was found hanged in a forest on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital…
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Ceuta – Last stop for refugees
Refugees and migrants from Morocco have few prospects of having their status recognized in the neighboring Spanish exclave Ceuta. Even some supposedly well-meaning volunteers advise them to go back. SOURCE: DW News
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How the Japanese get through scorching summers
Soaring temperatures and uncomfortably high humidity levels have been among the biggest complaints from athletes taking part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. And while temperatures have set new record highs in some parts of the country, most Japanese are fairly sanguine about the situation. They have, after all, both traditional and modern ways of beating the heat. The temperature…
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Rumours of meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi as Burmese military accept ASEAN envoy
The ruling military junta in Myanmar has issued a statement accepting the appointment of Erywan Yusof as ASEAN Special Envoy. Yusof will also oversee the association’s humanitarian programmes in the country, although it’s understood the military regime has refused to allow aid workers to deliver assistance to the worst-affected areas. Thai PBS World reports that Singapore has confirmed a contribution…
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German-Iranian ties face scrutiny as hard-liner Raisi takes office
Iran has a new head of government: Ebrahim Raisi. The 60-year-old cleric with the rimless glasses and what comes across as a shy smile was inaugurated as president on Tuesday, and takes the oath of office Thursday. The ultraconservative lawyer is taking over the presidency at a crucial time. Indirect negotiations with the United States in Vienna on the future…
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Cuban government asks for humanitarian aid
Though Cuba has been undergoing an economic crisis for years, the situation has worsened considerably in the past few months. A monetary reform to put an end to the country’s dual currency system at the beginning of the year — plus the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent fall of tourism — have combined to create conditions that are increasingly untenable,…
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Kashmir: A conflict between wild animals and humans
On June 3, 4-year-old Adda Mudasir was playing with her toys a few feet away from her brother and grandfather on the lawn of her home in Ompora village in India-administered Kashmir. By the time her family heard the screams it was too late. A leopard had attacked the girl and dragged her away, leaving only her toys and shoes…
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Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi: What to expect
On Thursday, 60-year-old Ebrahim Raisi will be sworn in before parliament as the Islamic Republic’s sixth president after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei inaugurated him on Tuesday in a ceremony broadcast live on state television. However, the handover of power to a new administration is being greeted by many Iranians with a sense of hopelessness and resignation. “Raisi and his…
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On Tunisian streets, economic worries and political fury
Wadi bin Soleiman taps at his mobile phone. He’s sitting on his chair, inside his ceramics store in the historic old city of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The market is usually a focal point for tourists. But it’s shortly before midday and bin Soleiman has yet to get a single customer. Like so many other Tunisians involved in the…
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Meet an Afghan who returned from space with a message of peace
As a child, Abdul Ahad Mohmand says he dreamed of flying, but he never imagined he would one day visit outer space. He was born in 1959 in Sardeh, a remote village south of Kabul. In 1988, he would become the first and only Afghan cosmonaut on Russia’s Mir space station. Now a German citizen, 62-year-old Mohmand spoke with DW…
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